When it comes to cell phone carriers, T-Moibile and AT&T top the list of inexpensive top competitors with Verizon and Sprint. However, which of these companies is really on top? In fact, the war is so bad between these two that they are willing to lost money and drop prices beyond belief for customers who are willing to switch over. There are plenty of incentives to change plans already, but bonus cash might be enough to push you over the edge.

Get cash from AT&T

If you are a T-Mobile customer, you can switch to AT&T and get $200 just for making the switch, according to Reuters. That can be used on top of other promotions leading to an extra $50 for phone trade-in. Customers now have more than enough reasons to switch from T-Mobile. But this kind of thing is what starts a war, and T-Mobile will likely shoot back with some kind of offer for customers switching from AT&T soon. In the coming weeks, we’ll see just how loyal T-Mobile customers are and how many really want to switch over to another carrier.

Only for a limited time

AT&T explains that this is only a limited time offer and won’t be available forever. If you qualify for the switch, this would be a good time to change your plan. Most people don’t want to go through the hassle of changing phone plans though, and who knows if this offer will even be available in a month when your contract is up. There are few people who will actually qualify for the offer right now.

Potential new family plan

Some people are guessing that AT&T will be releasing a new family plan. Since the company’s goal this year is to focus more on families, there is a good chance a new plan will be released favoring plans with multiple phone lines. It is possible that AT&T could win over more families this year between the $200 credit for switching carriers and the new family plans that will probably be announced soon. Every phone carrier offers discounts for plans with multiple phones, so the $200 bonus for switching might be the touch it needs to steal customers and increase business.

Shareholders don’t like it

This is the kind of bold fighting tactics that shareholders don’t like. Not only did the shares for T-Mobile drop, which is to be expected considering it will probably lose some business, the shares for AT&T dropped. Some people find it confusing that shares would drop when AT&T is pretty much guaranteed to get more business. The truth is, nobody wants to be associated with the company that just started a pissing match. Maybe it will turn into nothing, and maybe T-Mobile won’t retaliate, but there’s a good chance this will lead to competitive offers from both companies.

In the end, neither company will win. Both of them will lose money trying to outdo the other one. In fact, AT&T is already going to be losing some money by offering the $200 incentive, so maybe the extra customers won’t be worth it. When all is said and done, it will be an Apple vs. Samsung scenario where both companies lose a lot of time, money, and credibility after years of fighting.

Personally, I think AT&T will win. I've had them for years (switched from T-Mobile), and they've always given me superior customer service.

I just switched to their new "Mobile Data Share" plan, and I'm saving over $50 per month for 5 lines. Unlimited talk and text, 10gb shared data. My family uses mostly WiFi, so we've never even gone above 6gb total (even before switching to this plan). This new plan costs me about $175 per month, after taxes and a company discount (I don't work for the company any more, but they haven't taken the discount off (yet)).

As with T-Mobile, the company I work for now uses them, and their customer service STINKS! I work nights, and regularly receive calls from people who are no longer able to receive company email on their phones, and there's nothing I can do about it because their customer service isn't 24/7, and of course these people call me during the times they are closed. And the worst part is that I know exactly what the problem is, but can't do anything about it until T-Mobile opens back up again in the morning. (Users are being switched to a "free" 1gb data plan, however in order to receive company email, they must be on the $5/mo "enterprise" data plan.)

And T-Mobile's offer to cover your early termination fees if you switch to them only applies if you "sell" them your old phone. And they don't pay your old carrier - they give you a credit on your monthly bill for a few months (they don't pay the whole amount at once!).

I don't particularly care who "wins". I just want good service without being jerked around. Right now T-Mobile gives that to me (and has for the past 7-10 years). They are the only carrier that does not charge me extra every month just so I can get my corporate e-mail (we use GOOD). Both ATT and Verizon cost more and then they add a $10 fee on top of that just to unblock a port that they purposely blocked. That alone pisses me off enough to stay put.